Chapter 242: The Believers Arrive
“Finally!”
Zonyan couldn’t help but tearfully fall to his knees as the familiar Lifestone began building itself before his eyes, sighing emotionally in unmatched pain and suffering.
He had a.s.sumed that he was a special Player who had the luck to be a.s.signed a hidden quest and would be received like a Chosen One, but all he could remember were bitter tears when he recalled his journey thus far…
According to a Player’s summary post in the forums, there were many ways to improve your reputation in a certain place, but every single measure required a long-term investment of time.
It was what Zonyan himself chose to do—since he was there at the Western Continent and would be pulled back to the Eastern Continent if he died, he decided to help the Long Ears tribe in various minor quests to raise his reputation.
Or, as the Players would put it in more familiar terms, it was the everyday errands known as daily quests.
While other Players were farming dungeons, exploring new maps and routes as they progressed, he was farming daily quests.
While the other Players called upon their comrades to go on an adventure to fight the Marsh Drake and get the legendary item drop, he was farming daily quests.
While the other Players ventured into the heart of the Trinia Forests to visit the mythical elven capital, he was farming daily quests.
And when the other Players were instructed by the System to gather and defend Tunaya from the Dead Red Dragon and the undead legion, he was in another continent and still farming those b.l.o.o.d.y daily quests…
‘Chosen One, my foot! Isn’t this just a daily quest?!’
Beside him, Vulcan and Joey—his two daily quest companions did not look surprised at all, but instead nodded in great understanding.
If their G.o.d didn’t need them here, they would have simply killed themselves to return to the Eastern Continent…
Even if to Vulcan, having an event right in front of him but being unable to partic.i.p.ate was the greatest torment in the world.
Nonetheless, he was loyal—it was why he survived as a tramp until now before becoming a Player, and he therefore couldn’t abandon Zonyan alone here to work on those daily quests while he returned alone for the event gacha.
Meanwhile, Joey who hasn’t given up on taking in Terry and Jom as his G.o.dsons was hoping to make a name for himself in the new continent.
He hadn’t been a Player for long and had done some errands in the village himself, which was why a life of only doing daily quests in the Long Ears’ village didn’t affect him all that much.
Still, it was easy for anyone to turn from frugal to being extravagant, whereas turning from extravagant to frugal was very difficult.
After having a taste of the lifestyle in the Unnamed Village which transcended eras, Joey had a feeling that what would really make life hard for them in the Long Ears’ village was the matter of food.
Being a former believer of the G.o.d of Harvest and even before he converted to the Church of Games and enjoyed various incredible Earth food that would leave his tongue drooping, the food in Joey’s old village was actually quite tasty (there is no G.o.d of Gastronomy in this world, and authority in relations to food is claimed by the G.o.d of Harvest).
Meanwhile, to put things crudely, the Long Ears’ main food source was a wild vegetable called Betula which they prepared by cooking in clean water. The coa.r.s.e fiber texture made it horrible to bite, not to mention that it tasted bitter and was pungent with the scent of soil, and it was simply horrible to eat even if they took ten thousand steps back.
And yet that was what the Long Ears loved to eat, and everything from main dishes to dessert had it as an ingredient. Joey’s face went green eating all that stuff, the color of his face turning into the color of what he was eating—being a hunter, he had never stayed in the h.e.l.l of veganism for so long before this.
In fact, Joey seemed to find the eyes of anything was green too, something which left Zonyan and Vulcan extremely worried, afraid that he couldn’t hold back from his old hunter habits and killed a Long Ear to make some spicy rabbit head dish…
On the topic of food, Laybit revealed that the Long Ears used to eat fiddleheads and mushrooms, but that was back when the Long Ears’ village was still in the Vierlin Plains.
Now, they were lucky just to have some Betula to eat.
Be that as it may, their durable stomachs which could digest crude fiber clearly wasn’t used to seafood…
It was true that the Long Ears could slowly digest things like seaweed as long as it wasn’t toxic, but sh.e.l.ls and clams which were delicious to n.o.bility was nothing less than torment for Long Ears. Having just a few bites would cause them such horrific diarrhea that they would doubt the meaning of life…
And with no animals nearby to hunt, the non-poisonous fishes and ocean monsters were basically the only source of protein for the Long Ears.
Fishes were easy to catch despite the irritation of not using fishing boats, and it certainly was delicious. The problem was the sea monsters—sure, they were fleshy and therefore could last a long time albeit smelling like salt water, just as they were easy to swallow. However, after they discovered remains of their fellow tribesmen half-digested in the stomachs of those monsters or suddenly biting a finger or tooth or whatnot when eating those creatures, the Long Ears became traumatized…
***
“Will it really be fine building this here?” Laybit was staring doubtfully at the Lifestone floating at the center of the altar and frowning.
Although Zonyan, an outsider from the Grayclaw tribe and his two human companions had earned the trust of the Long Ears’ tribe, Laybit was still worried when he actually saw the bizarre structure that was the Lifestone.
“It’s fine.” Zonyan grinned, revealing his sharp teeth and feeling that he could finally shake off his depression. “And like I’ve promised your tribe before, this thing would transport reinforcements, and we won’t have to fear Swordtail’s cronies with their help. Even if the Hyena-men or Jackalfolk would send their troops here, we could beat them up for you!”
“Beat them up? I think they would be pursued until their whole tribe is wiped out…” Vulcan muttered softly while keeping a straight face.
“No more gra.s.s, finally!” Meanwhile, Joe was tearing up, emotional as his suffering finally came to an end.
Laybit stared at the trio who were reacting completely differently and became even more suspicious.
That was when the Lifestone suddenly shone.
The radiance of the ma.s.sive crystalline gem that hovered in the air throbbed like a heart right then. The runes carved on the altar beneath the gem floated out as if alive as well, and began to rotate around the gem itself.
The radiance then pierced the runes, sprinkling mysterious patterns over the ground that kept changing as the gem and the runes whirled.
The light of the gem shone even brighter than, now exuding an air of n.o.bleness and sanct.i.ty to it.
Under the radiance of that light, the entire altar seemed to become holy too as if it was bound to distant seas and skies, welcoming friends from the other side here to fulfill their destiny.[1]
And in the next split second, those figures came out.
“So, this is the Western Continent? Thus begins Joe’s new legend!”
“What? Where are the legendary items?”
“Those at the front, stop blocking the way! Tsk, I’m being pushed back!”
“Push, my foot! Start walking!”
“Wall glitch! Half of Marni is stuck in the altar!”
“Marni’s dead!”
“You b.a.s.t.a.r.ds!”
[1] *cue the Prelude (Crystal Theme)